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House Republicans are urging President Joe Biden to make a change in light of recent findings regarding federal office space usage. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, a significant 75 percent of office space across 17 different agencies remains empty.
The GOP majority is now calling on Biden to either bring employees back to their offices or sell off the buildings and allocate the funds towards reducing the national debt.
Numerous reports have shed light on government workers taking advantage of work-from-home policies, engaging in leisure activities like bubble baths, golfing, and happy hours while on the clock. These actions raise concerns about productivity and efficiency.
An employee from the Department of Veterans Affairs even posted photos on Instagram, providing a glimpse of their working environment from a bathtub. While federal workers enjoy these luxuries, service backlogs for passports and veterans’ appointments persist.
Sen. Joni Ernst from Iowa has suggested downsizing office spaces across various agencies as a measure to minimize waste and alleviate the skyrocketing national debt.
She argues that certain civil servants, such as meat inspectors or airport security screeners, do not have the privilege of working remotely or enjoying bubble baths during work hours.
Ernst has written to several agency inspector generals expressing concerns about taxpayer funds being misused.
She highlights the potential savings if office space at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters is reduced, estimated at $30 million annually.
The senator also criticizes a USPTO patent examiner who allegedly never showed up for work but received a substantial payment for hours not worked. While some agencies fall short in utilizing resources efficiently, Biden’s Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients, has issued a directive for federal workers to return to in-person work to enhance team well-being and improve productivity.
The House Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer of Kentucky, alongside Reps. Pete Sessions of Texas and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, have raised concerns about telework policies affecting productivity and requested specific data on the number of federal employees still working remotely three years into the post-COVID-19 era.
The trio accuses the administration of being uncooperative in sharing this information, raising suspicions of information withholding or inadequate tracking of telework policies within federal agencies. This lack of transparency raises significant concerns for Congress and reinforces the urgency for revisiting work-from-home arrangements.
Comer stresses the urgency of the situation, deeming it ‘unacceptable’ to prolong pandemic-era telework policies when the pandemic itself has long concluded.
The Biden Administration’s continued support for remote work raises questions about the administration’s commitment to efficiency and accountability.
As House Republicans continue their push for change, it remains to be seen how the administration will respond to their demands and address the concerns surrounding telework.